Berkeley gets top award for sustainability

Kira Stoll, UC Berkeley's director of sustainability stands with solar panels on the top of the Recreational Sports Facility. (UC Berkeley photo by Jennifer McDougall)

Berkeley’s attention to world-changing environmental research and efforts to green campus operations have earned it a Gold award from the Sustainability, Tracking, Assessment & Rating System used by more than 900 colleges and universities.

The judges recognized Berkeley’s longtime strengths in environmental research and scholarship as well as its innovative approaches to campus operations that reduce energy use, water consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and waste production. Berkeley ranked 11th in the country and second among the 10 UC campuses, falling behind UC Irvine.

“UC Berkeley’s first ever STARS assessment has given us important insight into what we’re doing well to incorporate sustainability in all parts of our campus, new areas for improvement and gauges for how we compare to hundreds of other colleges and universities,” said Kira Stoll, UC Berkeley’s director of sustainability. “We are pleased with these results and are committed and inspired to put these lessons into practice.”

Marc Fisher, Berkeley’s administration head, said Berkeley expects to improve its score during the next review period, which begins in May.

“UC Berkeley will build on this solid foundation as we meet our goals to stop adding waste to landfills by next year and to produce no net carbon from campus operations by 2025,” he said. “We will also find new ways to teach and practice sustainability outside of our classroom and labs, by weaving sustainability into many of our campus operations.”